Mexican Rice

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped (we used a yellow onion)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups long-grain rice (we used Uncle Ben’s Original Long Grain Rice)
  • 1 (10-oz.) can Original Rotel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies
  • 1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 2 to 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth (we used 2 cups)
  • Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish (we didn’t use it)

Directions

  1. Pour the oil into a large skillet and set the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, toss the the onion and garlic in and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring continuously. Turn the heat down to low and add the rice to the skillet. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly so that the rice doesn’t burn. Add in the Rotel, cumin, diced tomatoes, cayenne, and salt, stirring to combine. Add 2 cups of broth in, stirring to combine and wait for the dish to come to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and put a lid on the skillet. Let the rice simmer for 10 to 15 minutes (we went with 15 minutes) or until the rice is fully cooked. If the rice looks sticky, pour some or all of the remaining 1 cup of broth in. Right before serving, add the cilantro to the dish if you’re going to use it.
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This was actually the first rice recipe we ever tried, before this we had just been using microwavable rice. Once we made this though, we could never go back to the pre-packaged Mexican rice. There’s a pleasant level of heat to it and there’s an al dente quality to the rice. There’s spiciness, the tomatoes provide a nice pop of juiciness when you have some in your bite as well as a contrasting texture to the rice. The heat will make your lips tingle but it doesn’t overpower the flavor from the spices. A little softness from the onion also contrasts nicely against the other textures.

Recipe source unknown.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Uncle Ben’s or Rotel.

Take care everybody !

Fiery Asian Slaw

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil (we used extra-virgin olive oil)
  • 2 tsp. Sriracha (hot chile sauce)
  • 1 tsp. bottled ground fresh ginger (we used ground ginger)
  • ½ tsp. honey
  • ½ tsp. salt (we used Kosher salt)
  • ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 (16-ounce) package cabbage-and-carrot coleslaw (we used Fresh Express 3 Color Deli Cole Slaw)
  • 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds (we forgot to use them)

Directions

  1. Take a large mixing bowl out and whisk together the following ingredients in it: rice vinegar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, Sriracha, ground fresh ginger and honey. Add in the Kosher salt, cilantro and coleslaw, tossing well to ensure everything’s coated in the vinegar dressing. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and serve.
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The title’s a little misleading, it wasn’t “fiery” but it was delicious ! There wasn’t one particular flavor that made us enjoy this, it was just an overall nice blend of flavors that made us want to keep coming back for more !

Recipe source unknown.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Fresh Express.

Take care everybody !

Southern Pulled-Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup packed light-brown sugar
  • ½ to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (we used 1 tsp.)
  • 1 Tbsp. coarse salt (we used Kosher salt)
  • 1 tsp. ground pepper (we used freshly ground black pepper)
  • 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), cut into 4 equal pieces (we used a boneless pork shoulder picnic roast)
  • 1 ½ cups cider vinegar
  • ½ cup water
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 8 soft sandwich rolls, split (we used Cobblestone White Sub)
  • Store-bought barbecue sauce for serving (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees with racks in the lower and upper portions (we put our racks on the highest and lowest positions). In a small mixing bowl, mix the sugar, cayenne, salt and pepper together until thoroughly combined.
  2. Take a 5-quart Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed pot out (we went with the Dutch oven) and place the pork in it. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork.
  3. In a bowl with at least a 4-cup capacity, mix the vinegar, water, and garlic together, pouring it over the pork afterwards. Put a lid on the Dutch oven and stick it in the oven on the lower rack. Cook the pork for 2 to 2 ½ hours or until it’s really tender and is easy to pull apart with a fork (we cooked our for roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes).
  4. Take the pork out of the Dutch oven, making sure not to throw away the juice that’s left in the Dutch oven. Using 2 forks, shred the meat and place it in a large container afterwards. Add enough juice from the Dutch oven to moisten the pork, tossing the pork so it all gets moistened (we didn’t need all the juice but we poured it all in anyways because it would’ve been a sin to let any of it go to waste). Add the shredded pork to the rolls, topping with barbecue sauce if you’d like (we didn’t use any barbecue sauce).
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Oh my god, this was so f*$@ing delicious ! Fights could break out over someone getting more than their share. The inner parts of the meat are tasty but the outer crust portion is even more flavorful. You got the tang from the vinegar and got heat from the peppers. We also love this recipe because it was so easy to make ! We tried some barbecue sauce with the pulled pork but it didn’t taste nearly as good together as the pulled pork on its own. It’s best to let the pork and juices shine brightly all on their own. The recipe serves 8 but if you love it as much as we do, you can hide half of it for yourself and just lie and tell your family it only serves 4 ! The recipe mentions sandwich rolls but use whatever you want to.

Recipe source unknown.

We weren’t paid in any form to mention Cobblestone.

Take care everybody !

Tofu Curry With Lemongrass And Chile

Ingredients

  • 1 (14-oz.) block extra-firm tofu, drained (we drained and pressed our tofu)
  • 2 ½ Tbsp. canola oil, divided
  • 1 tsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • ¼ cup water
  • ¼ cup canned coconut milk
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
  • 1 to 2 Thai chiles, finely chopped (we used 3 Thai chiles)
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, trimmed and finely chopped
  • ½ tsp. Kosher salt
  • 12 green beans, cut diagonally into 2-in. pieces
  • ½ red bell pepper, cut into ¼-in. pieces (After seeding & trimming the bell pepper, we decided to use the whole bell pepper. It was a smaller one so we didn’t mind using the whole bell pepper.)
  • 2 tsp. Madras curry powder (we used Hot Madras curry powder)
  • ½ tsp. sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp. fish sauce
  • 3 to 4 fresh cilantro sprigs, coarsely chopped (we just used the leaves and left them whole)

Directions

  1. Take the drained tofu and halve it lengthwise, cutting each half crosswise into 4 pieces afterwards.
  2. Pour 1 tablespoon of canola oil into a large nonstick skillet, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, add in the tofu and don’t move it at all for 4 to 5 minutes or until it looks light browned (ours looked browned at 4 minutes). Flip the tofu over and let it cook for 2 minutes (we cooked ours for 1 minute). Carefully pour the soy sauce into the skillet, letting it cook for 2 minutes (we moved on earlier than that because the soy sauce had almost all been cooked off). Flip the tofu and cook it for one more minute. Take the tofu out of the skillet to let it cool down. Cut each piece diagonally so you yield triangular pieces.
  3. Mix the water and milk together in a mixing bowl, leaving off the side for now. Pour the remaining canola oil into the skillet, setting the heat to high. Once the oil’s hot but not smoking, toss in the shallots, chiles, and lemongrass, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add the salt, green beans, and bell peppers in, continuing to stir for 2 minutes or until the vegetables have softened a little. Add the tofu back into the skillet as well as pouring in the coconut milk mixture and the fish sauce, cooking for 2 minutes (we tossed everything together so that all components were coated in the sauce) or until everything is heated through. Take the tofu mixture out of the skillet and top with cilantro, serving immediately.

Serves 4.

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First of all, this does not serve 4 ! Maybe if you were serving it as an appetizer, but not as an entree. It was just enough to just serve mommy and me as an entree. We thought the tofu was going to be so tiny getting cut into triangles but it was actually a good size. When we tried a piece of the Thai chiles raw, it packed a lot of heat but by the end there wasn’t nearly as much heat as we thought there’d be. I was afraid that our tofu was a little too browned but we never tasted anything burnt. The vegetables add a nice contrasting texture to the dish. The cilantro also added a nice complementary flavor to the dish. Overall we really enjoyed eating this dish !

We got this recipe from Cooking Light.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Cooking Light.

Take care everybody !

Garlicky Beef-And-Bean Stir-Fry

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp. sugar
  • 6 Tbsp. soy sauce (we used reduced-sodium soy sauce)
  • 3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
  • 1 tsp. dried crushed red pepper
  • 8 tsp. minced garlic
  • 4 Tbsp. peanut oil, divided
  • 1 (10-oz.) sirloin steak, thinly sliced across the grain (we used 1 lb. of beef stir-fry meat)
  • 1 lb. fresh green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 2 red bell peppers, cut into ¼- to ½-wide strips
  • 2 tsp. cornstarch
  • 3 cups hot cooked rice

Directions

  1. Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a large resealable plastic bag, whisking in 3 tablespoons of the peanut oil afterwards. Add the steak into the plastic bag, sealing the bag afterwards. Let the beef marinate at room temp. for 15 minutes.
  2. Take the steak out of the marinade, reserving the marinade afterwards. Take a wok (we used a large skillet) and pour in the remaining peanut oil, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, add the beef in, stirring occasionally for 1 ½ minutes or until the beef is browned. Take the beef out and transfer to a plate. Add the green beans and bell peppers to the wok, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.
  3. Whisk the cornstarch into the marinade, stirring until fully combined. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the wok with vegetables, stirring constantly for 30 seconds or until the sauce looks like it’s thickened. Add the steak back into the wok, continuing to stir for another 30 seconds, mixing everything together. Take the skillet off the heat and serve the beef mixture over rice.
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We got this recipe from Southern Living.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Southern Living.

Take care everybody !